NEW YORK – CBS News said on Tuesday that it fired award-winning journalist Charlie Rose after eight women said he had sexually harassed them.

“Despite Charlie’s important journalistic contribution to our news division, there is absolutely nothing more important, in this or any organization, than ensuring a safe, professional workplace – a supportive environment where people feel they can do their best work. We need to be such a place,” CBS News president David Rhodes said in a statement.

The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) also fired Rose on Tuesday, a day after both it and CBS had suspended him in the wake of a Washington Post story detailing the allegations of sexual misconduct.

“In light of yesterday’s revelations, PBS has terminated its relationship with Charlie Rose and cancelled distribution of his programs,” the network said in a statement. “PBS expects all the producers we work with to provide a workplace where people feel safe and are treated with dignity and respect.”

Bloomberg Television also cut ties with the journalist.

A company owned by the 75-year-old Rose produced the program, which was syndicated by PBS and aired on public television stations across the country and on Bloomberg TV.

Rose was one of the co-hosts of “CBS This Morning” and his “Charlie Rose” interview show had aired across the US since 1991.

The veteran journalist released a statement on Monday addressing the allegations.

“I have behaved insensitively at times, and I accept responsibility for that, though I do not believe that all of these allegations are accurate. I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings, even though I now realize I was mistaken,” Rose said.

The women – five of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of damage to their professional careers – described inappropriate calls, physical contact, exhibitionism and unwarranted sexual innuendo.

One of the women described a 2010 incident at one of Rose’s properties in Bellport, New York.

The accuser alleged that after swimming in the pool, Rose told her he would go change and reappeared with an open white robe and nothing underneath.

Exposing his genitals, the woman said, Rose attempted to slide his hands into her pants and kiss her.

The paper did not reveal the identity of the woman, who described the encounter as “the most humiliating experience” of her life.

Reah Bravo, a journalist who worked for Rose a decade ago, told the Post about a similar experience.

During a trip in 2008, Rose called her to his hotel room and came out of the shower naked, Bravo said, adding that the famous interviewer also groped her several times during car rides.

Kyle Godfrey-Ryan, who worked as Rose’s assistant a decade ago, told the Post that the journalist walked in front of her nude several times at his apartment after asking her to work there.

On several occasions, Godfrey-Ryan said, Rose called her over the phone to tell her he fantasized about watching her swim naked in his pool.

Enter your email address to subscribe to free headlines (and great cartoons so every email has a happy ending!) from the Latin American Herald Tribune: